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I stopped what I was about to say, frowned, and rewound what he’d said I listened to it again inon a second You think it’sto a cootten his undivided attention I hoped he wasn’t standing in the ht he was replaying what I’d just said "Are you saying it isn’t your fault?" he asked

"I’ to do with it"

"You were seen in theto fix it, which is sort ofalmost co "If you don’t believe me, ask the other Warden Luis Rocha He was there He sahat I saw"

"Rocha," Lewis repeated thoughtfully "Yeah, I know him Luis is solid Okay, let ht, with you new to your Earth powers - "

"You thought I’d go yank around at force lines in the ground, because they were there? What am I, four? Come on, man"

Ah, there was the Lewis I knew and loved, in that ironic lift in his voice "Jo, you know daround zero of trouble, I have to assu to do with it"

"Convicted on prior bad acts?"

"So call of a siren as it ripped by hie on my end - same siren, or very similar "Where are you?"

"Delvia’s Bridal Um, it was Delvia’s Bridal, anyway I think it’s Super Discount Gowns now At the very least, there’s going to be a whole lot of discounting going on"

"And you say you didn’t have athat way Stay put"

He hung up before I could assure hi anywhere I looked around The clerk was owns Cherise exchanged a look with me, nodded, and went to help David, of course, could have waved a hts, but that wasn’t the way things were done, at least not out here in the open, where it could be witnessed by the general public We’d do

At least, I hoped so The old days of the Wardens leaving messes behind theht, be a good test of their resolve to do the right thing, and if they didn’twell, I could always take names, kick asses

"Not normal," I said aloud "This shouldn’t have happened"

I didn’t need confirave it to me anyway "Someone caused it," he said

"A Warden?"

He was silent When I glanced his way, I saw that his eyes were growing lighter in color and brighter in powerbut then they cooled again, and he shook his head "Unknown"

"What? How can it be unknown? How can you not know?" Because David, after all, was sort of the running definition of oine those surveillance cameras you see on every street corner, only for the Djinn, every single object in the world, living or inert, has a history and a path through ti that carpet back and following the threads tonothing, apparently

That was unsettling toin his own defense He turned away to pace, head down, and I was re to pick up a scent

Vainly

I felt a slight bump of power on the aetheric level - it took concentration to detect it - and knew that soood thing; could be a bad thingEither way, it would be unpredictable

I turned, a determined sing in the cracked doorway, arlittering eyes She was a tall creature, elegant as a heron, but her nature always puthawk - predatory, alert, always on the verge of striking

Today she wore a bright lavender pantsuit in what looked like (and probably was) the softest of peach skin It was tailored within an inch of its life, clinging to her long legs and her sculpted torso Purple was a relaxed color for her, as it was forneon yellow

"So," she said, in a low voice as rich as spilled syrup, "does thisis off?"

"You wish," I said "Thanks for the help Oh, wait"

Her soodthem to freak me out "Did you need help, little sister? All you had to do was ask"

Like I’d had time to pretty-please She tilted her head, still focused on me, and the hundreds of tiny, ether, and the tiny beads clacked Snakes and bones I resisted the urge to shiver I liked Rahel, and I thought she likedcould happen, but I was never reallysure You never could be, with the Djinn

And once again, she surprised , "What do you need?"

Djinn didn’t offer But she did, and I gaped at her for a long, unflattering few seconds before I got control and corateful expression "If you could check and let me know if you find anybody wounded, anybody in trouble - "

She flipped a negligent hand - perfectly manicured, with opal polish on the sharp nails - and misted away I looked around David hadn’t bothered to turn, and the humans in the store and on the street had been too preoccupied with their own trau when they saw it